1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to aerosol products and containers and more particularly to child resistant assemblies for preventing accidental discharge of the aerosol products by children.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various types of child proof and child resistant containers bottles, jars and aerosol actuators have been developed in the prior art in an effort to reduce the number of accidental openings and/or discharges of containers by small children. Those skilled in the prior art will appreciate the sophistication and complexity of many of these child proof containers and/or actuators and the substantial effort expended in the development thereof. It is a prime objective for all of these closures and actuators to provide a simple, efficient and economical child proof container which may be easily operated by adults or elderly persons while simultaneously being substantially inoperative for a small child.
Many child resistant assemblies have been devised specifically for use with an aerosol products. In a child proof aerosol product, a container is filled with a product and a propellant under pressure to be released upon activation of an aerosol valve. In general, a movement of skill such as aligning component parts or a finger of adult size is required to activate the aerosol valve. The use of additional structural elements to provide the movement of skill or to sense the size of the adult finger adds to the complexity of the aerosol product which inhibits the acceptance in the market. The additional parts or components required to make the child proof aerosol container add to both the material cost and the assembly cost of the child proof aerosol container.
In general, the assembly of the component parts of a child resistant aerosol container requires a preferred orientation of the parts during the assembly process. Accordingly, it is more costly to assemble a child resistant assembly since the parts must be positioned in a preferred orientation to properly complete the assembly.
A further requirement of most child resistant aerosol containers is the capability for use with conventional aerosol containers and conventional aerosol valves. With these severe restrictions and limitations, it can be appreciated by those skilled in the art that a simple and efficient child resistant container has not been developed by the prior art at a reasonable price.
Therefore it is an object of this invention to provide a child resistant assembly which overcomes the inadequacies of the prior art and provides a substantial contribution to the child resistant assemblies for aerosol containers.
Another object of this invention is to provide a child resistant assembly for use with an aerosol container which may be assembled with the same number of component parts as a conventional aerosol container.
Another object of this invention is to provide a child resistant assembly for an aerosol container wherein the component parts may be assembled without concern for the orientation of the component parts.
Another object of this invention is to provide a child resistant assembly for an aerosol container utilizing an aerosol overcap having a finger actuator wherein the overcap is rotatably mounted on the container relative to an actuator button for allowing activation of the aerosol valve only upon a selected orientation between the overcap and the actuator button.
Another object of this invention is to provide a child resistant assembly for an aerosol container compatible for use with either a tilt valve which discharges aerosol product upon tilting the valve or for use with a vertical action valve which discharges aerosol product upon a vertical depression of the valve stem.
Another object of this invention is to provide a child resistant assembly for an aerosol container comprising a non-symmetrical means cooperable with an engaging surface whereby the valve may be actuated by the operator upon a selected orientation between the non-symmetrical means and the engaging surface.
Another object of this invention is to provide a child resistant assembly for aerosol containers for use with standard industry aerosol containers and valves.
The foregoing has outlined some of the more pertinent objects of the invention. These objects should be construed to be merely illustrative of some of the more prominent features and applications of the intended invention. Many other beneficial results can be attained by applying the disclosed invention in a different manner or modifying the invention within the scope of the disclosure. Accordingly, other objects and a fuller understanding of the invention may be had by referring to the summary of the invention and the detailed description describing the preferred embodiment in addition to the scope of the invention defined by the claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.